112-459: Númenor , also called Elenna-nórë or Westernesse , is a fictional place in J. R. R. Tolkien 's writings. It was the kingdom occupying a large island to the west of Middle-earth , the main setting of Tolkien's writings, and was the greatest civilization of Men . However, after centuries of prosperity, many of its inhabitants ceased to worship the One God, Eru Ilúvatar , and they rebelled against
224-465: A Catholic , realised he had created a dilemma for himself , as if these beings were sentient and had a sense of right and wrong, then they must have souls and could not have been created wholly evil. Dragons (or "worms") appear in several varieties, distinguished by whether they have wings and whether they breathe fire (cold-drakes versus fire-drakes). The first of the fire-drakes ( Urulóki in Quenya)
336-762: A tightrope unaided. Their eyesight is keen. Elves are immortal, unless killed in battle. They are re-embodied in Valinor if killed. Men were "the Secondborn" of the Children of Ilúvatar: they awoke in Middle-earth much later than the Elves. Men (and Hobbits) were the last humanoid race to appear in Middle-earth: Dwarves, Ents and Orcs also preceded them. The capitalized term "Man" (plural "Men")
448-691: A "mountain regarded as the Pillar of Heaven," that is Mount Atlas , which would in turn refer to Mount Meneltarma in Númenor. The destruction of Númenor earned it the Quenya name Atalantë , lit. ' the Downfallen ' ; Tolkien described his invention of this additional allusion to Atlantis as a happy accident when he realized that the Quenya root talat- "to fall" could be incorporated into
560-460: A Man and the first King of Númenor. The Númenóreans became a powerful people, friendly with Elves, both of Eressëa and of Middle-earth. The Elves of Eressëa brought gifts including skills and plants. Elros brought a measure of Elvish blood and magical power . Among these gifts were seven palantíri , magical orbs that could foresee the future, for the Lords of Andúnië. Númenor was surrounded by
672-922: A band lived among the Second House of Men, the Haladin, in the First Age in the forest of Brethil , whence the Elves came to know and love them. Aghan the Drûg is a protagonist in "The Faithful Stone", a short story set in Beleriand in the First Age . Although a number of the Drúedain came with the Edain to Númenor , they had left or died out before the Akallabêth , as had the Púkel-men of Dunharrow . At
784-793: A catastrophic transition from a flat to a spherical world, known as the Akallabeth, in which Aman became inaccessible to mortal Men. Tolkien described the region in which the Hobbits lived as "the North-West of the Old World, east of the Sea", and the north-west of the Old World is essentially Europe , especially Britain . However, as he noted in private letters, the geographies do not match, and he did not consciously make them match when he
896-645: A conclusion to his The Silmarillion and the "last tale" about the Elder Days. Later, with the emergence of The Lord of the Rings , it became the link back to his mythology of earlier ages. Númenor first appears in The Lord of the Rings , as the vague land of "Westernesse", an advanced civilisation which had existed long ago, far to the west over the Sea, and the ancestral home of the Dúnedain . Tolkien chose
1008-668: A great wave that rushes in over the treetops. Nesbit's 1908 The House of Arden has as its central device a brother and sister named Edred ("Bliss-counsel") and Elfrida ("Elf-strength") who visit several earlier times, always meeting a similar pair of characters. Tolkien chose to calque the calendar of Númenor on the French Republican calendar . For example, the names of the third month of Winter, Súlímë , Gwaeron , and Ventôse , all mean 'Windy'. C. S. Lewis 's 1945 novel That Hideous Strength makes reference to Numinor, as "the true West", which Lewis credits as
1120-629: A letter from 1968, he had written the story of Númenor as "a new version of the Atlantis legend" as a result from a challenge by C. S. Lewis to write a time-travel story. Tolkien himself had recurring dreams of an "ineluctable Wave" from the quiet sea or towering over the green inlands throughout his life. Tolkien's history of the Downfall of Númenor therefore remained faithful to Plato's story of Atlantis, and exhibits significant influences from Timaeus and Critias . Similarly to how Plato invented
1232-476: A little glorified by enchantment of distance in time. ...if it were 'history', it would be difficult to fit the lands and events (or 'cultures') into such evidence as we possess, archaeological or geological, concerning the nearer or remoter part of what is now called Europe; though the Shire , for instance, is expressly stated to have been in this region...I hope the, evidently long but undefined gap in time between
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#17327718371791344-438: A name for Númenor. Tolkien wrote of Númenor as Atlantis in several of his letters. The commentator Charles Delattre has noted that Númenor matches the myth of Atlantis, the only drowned island in surviving ancient literature, in multiple details: Tolkien, a devout Roman Catholic , stated that The Downfall of Númenor ( Akallabêth ) was effectively a second fall of man , with "its central theme .. (inevitably, I think, in
1456-588: A persecuted minority accused of being "spies of the Valar". Late in the Second Age, Ar-Pharazôn, the 25th monarch of Númenor, sailed to Middle-earth to challenge Sauron , who had claimed to be the King of Men and overlord of Middle-earth. Ar-Pharazôn landed at Umbar to do battle, and upon seeing the might of Númenor, Sauron's armies fled, forcing Sauron to surrender without a fight. He was brought back to Númenor as
1568-467: A prisoner, but soon seduced the king and many other Númenóreans, promising them eternal life if they worshipped his master Melkor. With Sauron as his advisor, Ar-Pharazôn had a 500-foot (150 m) tall temple erected in Armenelos. In this temple human sacrifices were offered to Melkor. The White Tree Nimloth, which stood before the King's House in Armenelos and whose fate was tied to the line of kings,
1680-538: A reference to the city. Similarly to how Plato internally claimed in his text that his account of Atlantis represented the truth behind the confused words of the Egyptian priests, Tolkien himself also described his story of Númenor as being the truth behind Plato's own account, and he had Lowdham in The Notion Club Papers claim that if Atlantis referred to Atlas, then it would connect the story with
1792-596: A rival to Sauron for absolute power in Middle-earth. Other races involved in the struggle against evil were Dwarves , Ents and most famously Hobbits . The early stages of the conflict are chronicled in The Silmarillion , while the final stages of the struggle to defeat Sauron are told in The Hobbit and in The Lord of the Rings . Conflict over the possession and control of precious or magical objects
1904-519: A shadow and a black wind over the sea", and returned to Mordor . The Faithful, led by the nobleman Elendil , had come to Middle-earth. Elendil's sons, Isildur and Anárion, founded the two Kingdoms in Exile: Arnor in the north, and Gondor in the south. The two kingdoms attempted to maintain Númenórean culture. Gondor flourished, and "for a while its splendour grew, recalling somewhat of
2016-542: A story of Men) a Ban, or Prohibition". Bradley J. Birzer , writing in the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia , notes that Tolkien thought that every story was essentially about a fall, and accordingly his legendarium contains many "falls": that of Morgoth, of Fëanor and his relatives, and that of Númenor among them. Eric Schweicher writes in Mythlore that the ban was "soon defied", as in the Biblical fall. The temptation for
2128-515: A then-unpublished creation of J. R. R. Tolkien ; they were friends and colleagues at Oxford University , and members of The Inklings literary discussion group. The misspelling came from Lewis's only hearing Tolkien say the name in one of his readings. The television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set mainly in the Second Age. It includes the port city of Armenelos in Númenor, its architecture designed to convey
2240-535: A tradition through which the story of Atlantis was allegedly handed down from Egyptian priests to Solon and members of the family of Critias , Tolkien created one in the form of the figure of Ælfwine who met the Elves who had preserved ancient lost knowledge. Tolkien had his character Lowdham in The Notion Club Papers describe Númenor's name Atalante as an "Avallonian," that is Elvish, word. In this, Tolkien emulated how Plato rearticulated
2352-458: A variant of the medieval Green man , which she calls "a Pagan symbol of fertility and rebirth". The medievalist and Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger comments that the Wild Man "is infantile". Ghân-Buri-Ghân talks "like a Hollywood Tarzan " using short broken phrases like "Wild Men live here before Stone-houses" and "kill orc-folk". She compares him with the "Wild Hobbit " Gollum , who
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#17327718371792464-526: Is psychotic , haunted by voices, and who uses "baby-talk", like "cruel little hobbitses": in her view, the Wild Man is "evolutionarily regressive", whereas Gollum is " psychologically regressive ". Ghân-buri-Ghân is featured in the promotional expansion card set of The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game and in the Lord of the Rings board game. The image for the latter was designed by
2576-577: Is a recurring theme in the stories. The First Age is dominated by the doomed quest of the elf Fëanor and most of his Noldorin clan to recover three precious jewels called the Silmarils that Morgoth stole from them (hence the title The Silmarillion ). The Second and Third Age are dominated by the forging of the Rings of Power , and the fate of the One Ring forged by Sauron, which gives its wearer
2688-533: Is called Khuzdul , and was kept largely as a secret language for their own use. Like Hobbits, Dwarves live exclusively in Middle-earth. They generally reside under mountains, where they are specialists in mining and metalwork. Tolkien identified Hobbits as an offshoot of the race of Men. Another name for Hobbit is 'Halfling', as they were generally only half the size of Men. In their lifestyle and habits they closely resemble Men, and in particular Englishmen, except for their preference for living in holes underground. By
2800-415: Is perceived as a "leftover," a prehistoric type of human surviving in the modern world. Like the rest of his people, Ghân has a flat face, dark eyes, and wears only a grass skirt. He is seen as a good man with a kind of primitive nobility, a classic example of the noble savage . He is by no means stupid, and he "refuses to be patronized." Susan Pesznecker describes the "Wodwoses", including Tolkien's, as
2912-579: Is taken by his lieutenant Sauron , a Maia . The Valar withdrew from direct involvement in the affairs of Middle-earth after the defeat of Morgoth, but in later years they sent the wizards or Istari to help in the struggle against Sauron. The most important wizards were Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White . Gandalf remained true to his mission and proved crucial in the fight against Sauron. Saruman, however, became corrupted and sought to establish himself as
3024-476: Is the known world, "recalling the Norse Midgard and the equivalent words in early English", noting that Tolkien made it clear that this was " our world ... in a purely imaginary ... period of antiquity". Tolkien explained in a letter to his publisher that it "is just a use of Middle English middle-erde (or erthe ), altered from Old English Middangeard : the name for the inhabited lands of men 'between
3136-488: Is used as a gender-neutral racial description, to distinguish humans from the other human-like races of Middle-earth. In appearance they are much like Elves, but on average less beautiful. Unlike Elves, Men are mortal, ageing and dying quickly, usually living 40–80 years. However the Númenóreans could live several centuries, and their descendants the Dúnedain also tended to live longer than regular humans. This tendency
3248-742: The Ainur entered Arda, following the creation events in the Ainulindalë and long ages of labour throughout Eä , the fictional universe . Time from that point was measured using Valian Years , though the subsequent history of Arda was divided into three time periods using different years, known as the Years of the Lamps , the Years of the Trees and the Years of the Sun . A separate, overlapping chronology divides
3360-710: The Black Speech (Burzum) for his slaves (such as Orcs ) to speak. In the Third Age , five of the Maiar were embodied and sent to Middle-earth to help the free peoples to overthrow Sauron. These are the Istari or Wizards , including Gandalf , Saruman , and Radagast . The Elves are known as "the Firstborn" of Ilúvatar: intelligent beings created by Ilúvatar alone, with many different clans . Originally Elves all spoke
3472-518: The Elves and other Men, they had "unlovely faces": wide, flat, and expressionless with deep-set black eyes that glowed red when angered. They had "horny" brows, flat noses, wide mouths, and sparse, lank hair. They had no hair lower than the eyebrows, except for a few men who had a tail of black hair on the chin. They were short-lived and had a deep hatred of Orcs . They had certain magical powers and sat still in meditation for long periods. The Drûgs were
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3584-736: The Elves . In The Lord of the Rings , they assist the Riders of Rohan to avoid ambush on the way to the Battle of the Pelennor Fields . The Drúedain are based on the mythological woodwoses , the wild men of the woods of Britain and Europe; the Riders of Rohan indeed call them woses. Within Tolkien's fiction, the Drúedain call themselves Drughu . When the Drúedain settled in Beleriand ,
3696-476: The Great Sea of Arda , and the sea had a profound influence on Númenor's culture and history. From the earliest times in its history, fish from the sea were a significant part of Númenórean diet; those providing this food were Númenor's first sea-farers. The Númenóreans swiftly became skilled shipbuilders and mariners , with a desire to explore and master the ocean. There was one limitation on this activity:
3808-558: The Old Straight Road , which now meant travelling out of Arda. All the people on the island were drowned; only the Faithful, who had already sailed away, survived. Most of Ar-Pharazôn's armada met its doom in the cataclysm. Sauron himself was caught in the cataclysm he had helped bring about. His body was destroyed, and he never again had a fair form. He fled back to Middle-earth as a monstrous spirit of hatred that "passed as
3920-501: The One Ring . Tar-Minastir, later the eleventh King of Númenor, assembled an armada, and sent it to Gil-galad's aid. The forces of Númenor and the Elves defeated Sauron. The increasing power of the Númenóreans had a dark side; the exploitation of Middle-earth's forests devastated much of Eriador. The Númenóreans established further settlements in Middle-earth, coming to rule a coastal empire with no rival. At first, they engaged with
4032-649: The Sindarin Elves adapted this to Drû (plurals Drúin , Drúath ) and later added the suffix -adan "man", resulting in the usual Sindarin form Drúadan (plural Drúedain ). Tolkien also used the form Drûg , with a regular English plural Drûgs . Drughu became Rú in Quenya , with the later suffixed form Rúatan (plural Rúatani ). The Orcs called the Drúedain Oghor-hai . John S. Ryan, writing in Mallorn , notes that Tolkien also uses
4144-485: The Valar . They invaded Valinor in an erroneous search for immortality, resulting in the destruction of the island and the death of most of its people. Tolkien intended Númenor to allude to the legendary Atlantis . Commentators have noted that the destruction of Númenor echoes the Biblical stories of the fall of man and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah , and John Milton 's Paradise Lost . The tale forms part of
4256-581: The setting of much of the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien 's fantasy. The term is equivalent to the Miðgarðr of Norse mythology and Middangeard in Old English works, including Beowulf . Middle-earth is the oecumene (i.e. the human-inhabited world, or the central continent of Earth ) in Tolkien's imagined mythological past . Tolkien's most widely read works, The Hobbit and The Lord of
4368-694: The Ainur entered Eä, and the greatest of these were called the Valar . Melkor , the chief agent of evil in Eä, and later called Morgoth , was initially one of the Valar. With the Valar came lesser spirits of the Ainur, called the Maiar . Melian, the wife of the Elven King Thingol in the First Age , was a Maia. There were also evil Maiar, including the Balrogs and the second Dark Lord, Sauron . Sauron devised
4480-580: The Ban of the Valar. The Valar prohibited the Edain from sailing west out of sight of the island. This was because the Undying Lands , forbidden to mortals, lay tantalizingly close to the west of Númenor. So the Númenóreans explored the other seas. They reached Middle-earth to the east, and explored its coasts including the Eastern Sea on the far side of Middle-earth. They brought their civilization to
4592-684: The Common Tongue of western Middle-earth, the Drúedain were called the Wild Men , or the [Wood-] Woses : You hear the Woses, the Wild Men of the Woods: thus they talk together from afar. They still haunt Druadan Forest, it is said. Remnants of an older time they be, living few and secretly, wild and wary as the beasts. The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey , a philologist like Tolkien, notes that
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4704-403: The Crebain, evil crows who become spies for Saruman , and the Ravens of Erebor , who brought news to the Dwarves. The horse-line of the Mearas of Rohan, especially Gandalf's mount, Shadowfax, also appear to be intelligent and understand human speech. The bear-man Beorn had a number of animal friends about his house. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings , both set in Middle-earth, have been
4816-411: The Drúedain were feared and loathed by other Men of the region; they were considered little better than Orcs , and there was much enmity between those peoples. Nevertheless, the Drúedain of Ghân-buri-Ghân's clan came to the aid of the Rohirrim during the War of the Ring . A large company of Orcs had been sent to the Drúadan Forest to waylay the host of Rohan as it made its way to the aid of Gondor . It
4928-433: The Fall of Barad-dûr and our Days is sufficient for 'literary credibility', even for readers acquainted with what is known as 'pre-history'. I have, I suppose, constructed an imaginary time, but kept my feet on my own mother-earth for place. I prefer that to the contemporary mode of seeking remote globes in 'space'. In another letter, Tolkien made correspondences in latitude between Europe and Middle-earth: The action of
5040-468: The Island of Númenor , published in Unfinished Tales , was supposedly derived from the archives of Gondor . Númenor was in the Great Sea, closer to Aman in the West than to Middle-earth in the east. In shape it was a star, with five peninsulas extending from the central region, which was around 250 miles (400 km) across. Karen Wynn Fonstad estimated the island to be 167,691 square miles [435,017 km] in area. Númenor had six main regions:
5152-402: The Men of Middle-earth in a friendly manner, but Minastir's successors, Tar-Ciryatan and Tar-Atanamir "the Great", became tyrannical, oppressing the Men of Middle-earth and exacting heavy tribute. The Númenóreans made Umbar , the harbour city in the south of Middle-earth, into a great fortress and expanded Pelargir , a landing in Gondor near the Mouths of the Anduin . The "King's Men" among
5264-436: The Men of Middle-earth, who called them the Sea-kings. News of Númenórean seafarers spread far inland in Middle-earth; even the reclusive Ents heard of the coming of "the Great Ships". Númenóreans had established good relations with Gil-galad , the king of the High Elves of the northwest of Middle-earth, whose ships sailed from the Grey Havens. Aldarion founded the Uinendili, a guild of sea-farers, in honour of Uinen, goddess of
5376-481: The Númenoreans was the desire for immortality , and the ban that they broke was not to sail towards the Undying Lands of Aman . The names connected by his philological studies formed for Tolkien the possibility of an inexorable downward progression , from the long-lost mythical world of Númenor in the Second Age, to his fantasy world of Middle-earth in the Third Age, also now lost, to the real ancient Germanic and Anglo-Saxon thousands of years later, and finally down to
5488-413: The Númenóreans became jealous of Elves for their immortality, resenting the Ban of the Valar, and sought everlasting life. Those who remained loyal to the Valar and friendly to the Elves (and using Elvish languages) were the "Faithful" or "Elf-friends" ( Elendili ); they were led by the Lords of Andúnië. In the reign of Tar-Ancalimon (S.A. 2221-2386), the King's Men became dominant, and the Faithful became
5600-412: The Númenóreans to the Jews in two of his letters. He equated the Númenórean practice of having just one place of worship at the summit of Mount Meneltarma with that of the Jews at their single Temple in Jerusalem . Númenor has parallels with ancient Phoenicia and Carthage , being militarily powerful at sea, and worshipping a god with human sacrifice. Tolkien was a professional philologist . For him,
5712-405: The Rings , are set entirely in Middle-earth. "Middle-earth" has also become a short-hand term for Tolkien's legendarium , his large body of fantasy writings, and for the entirety of his fictional world. Middle-earth is the main continent of Earth (Arda) in an imaginary period of the past, ending with Tolkien's Third Age , about 6,000 years ago. Tolkien's tales of Middle-earth mostly focus on
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#17327718371795824-514: The Rings , Tolkien writes: "Those days, the Third Age of Middle-earth, are now long past, and the shape of all lands has been changed..." The Appendices make several references in both history and etymology of topics "now" (in modern English languages) and "then" (ancient languages); The year no doubt was of the same length,¹ [ the footnote here reads : 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes, 46 seconds.] for long ago as those times are now reckoned in years and lives of men, they were not very remote according to
5936-1008: The Rings: The Return of the King received 11 Academy Award nominations and won all of them, matching the totals awarded to Ben-Hur and Titanic . Two well-made fan films of Middle-earth, The Hunt for Gollum and Born of Hope , were uploaded to YouTube on 8 May 2009 and 11 December 2009 respectively. Numerous computer and video games have been inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien 's works set in Middle-earth. Titles have been produced by studios such as Electronic Arts , Vivendi Games , Melbourne House , and Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment . Aside from officially licensed games, many Tolkien-inspired mods , custom maps and total conversions have been made for many games, such as Warcraft III , Minecraft , Rome: Total War , Medieval II: Total War , The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim . In addition, there are many text-based MMORPGs (known as MU*s ) based on Middle-earth. The oldest of these dates back to 1991, and
6048-401: The Sea. He succeeded to the throne and became known as the Mariner-king. He established Vinyalondë (later called Lond Daer), the first Númenórean settlement in Middle-earth. This port provided access to the great forests of Eriador , which the Númenóreans needed for shipbuilding. The Númenóreans assisted Gil-galad in Middle-earth's War of the Elves and Sauron, which broke out after the forging of
6160-540: The ability to give conscious life to things. The precise origins of Orcs and Trolls are unclear, as Tolkien considered various possibilities and sometimes changed his mind, leaving several inconsistent accounts. Late in the Third Age, the Uruks or Uruk-hai appeared: a race of Orcs of great size and strength that tolerate sunlight better than ordinary Orcs. Tolkien also mentions "Men-orcs" and "Orc-men"; or "half-orcs" or "goblin-men". They share some characteristics with Orcs (like "slanty eyes") but look more like men. Tolkien,
6272-418: The book for the benefit of readers, despite the expense involved. The definitive and iconic map of Middle-earth was published in The Lord of the Rings . It was refined with Tolkien's approval by the illustrator Pauline Baynes , using Tolkien's detailed annotations, with vignette images and larger paintings at top and bottom, into a stand-alone poster, " A Map of Middle-earth ". In Tolkien's conception, Arda
6384-401: The character of its people. The set is described as "an entire seaside city" with buildings, alleyways, shrines, graffiti, and a ship docked at the harbour. The production designer Ramsey Avery based Númenor's "looming marble structures" on Ancient Greece and Venice , while he used the colour blue to reflect the culture's emphasis on water and sailing. Middle-earth Middle-earth is
6496-480: The end of the Third Age the Drûgs still lived in the Drúadan Forest of the White Mountains, and on the long cape of Andrast west of Gondor . The region north of Andrast was still known as Drúwaith Iaur , or "Old Drûg land". The term Púkel-men used by the Rohirrim was also applied to the statues constructed by the Drúedain to guard important places and homes; some evidently had the power to come to life. Because of their ugly appearance and frightening statues
6608-515: The events in Tolkien's stories take place in the north-west of Middle-earth. In the First Age , further to the north-west was the subcontinent Beleriand ; it was engulfed by the ocean at the end of the First Age. Tolkien prepared several maps of Middle-earth. Some were published in his lifetime. The main maps are those published in The Hobbit , The Lord of the Rings , The Silmarillion , and Unfinished Tales , and appear as foldouts or illustrations. Tolkien insisted that maps be included in
6720-422: The existence of ideas embodied in ancient words and names indicated that there must have been "some original conception", a once-living tradition, behind those ideas. The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey notes that in Tolkien's The Lost Road , the key names are from Germanic legend, and they speak of elves: Both the use of a pair of related time-travellers with Old English names, and the idea of visiting Atlantis at
6832-418: The first big screen adaptation of the fictional setting was introduced in Ralph Bakshi 's animated The Lord of the Rings . New Line Cinema released the first part of director Peter Jackson 's The Lord of the Rings film series in 2001 as part of a trilogy; it was followed by a prequel trilogy in The Hobbit film series with several of the same actors playing their old roles. In 2003, The Lord of
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#17327718371796944-399: The first to migrate from Hildórien, the land where the race of Men awoke in the east of Middle-earth. Initially they headed south, into Harad , but then they turned north-west, becoming the first Men to cross the great river Anduin . Many of them settled in the White Mountains , where they were the first people . Some of the Drúedain continued north-west, settling in Beleriand . There
7056-403: The five promontories, named Andustar, Hyarnustar, Hyarrostar, Orrostar, and Forostar; and the central area, Mittalmar, which contained the capital city Armenelos. The fifth king Tar-Meneldur built a tower in Forostar to watch the stars. A tall tower was constructed in Armenelos by the first King Elros, son of the seafaring hero Eärendil ; the White Tree Nimloth, living symbol of the Kingdom,
7168-438: The forms "Drúadan Forest" (the home of the Woses) and "Drúwaith-laur" (the Dru-folk's ancient wilderness). The word used for the Drúedain by the Rohirrim during the Third Age is represented by Tolkien as Púkel-men . This includes the Old English word pūcel "goblin, troll", which survives in Shakespeare 's Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream , and in two forms in Kipling 's Puck of Pook's Hill . Ryan adds that
7280-406: The gift of life but under the condition that they be taken and put to sleep in widely separated locations in Middle-earth and not to awaken until after the Firstborn were upon the Earth. They are mortal like Men, but live much longer, usually several hundred years. A peculiarity of Dwarves is that both males and females are bearded, and thus appear identical to outsiders. The language spoken by Dwarves
7392-425: The history into 'Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar'. The first such Age began with the Awakening of the Elves during the Years of the Trees (by which time the Ainur had already long inhabited Arda) and continued for the first six centuries of the Years of the Sun. All the subsequent Ages took place during the Years of the Sun. Arda is, as critics have noted, "our own green and solid Earth at some quite remote epoch in
7504-584: The imagined history, the peoples other than Men dwindle, leave or fade, until, after the period described in the books, only Men are left on the planet. Tolkien's stories chronicle the struggle to control the world (called Arda ) and the continent of Middle-earth between, on one side, the angelic Valar , the Elves and their allies among Men ; and, on the other, the demonic Melkor or Morgoth (a Vala fallen into evil), his followers, and their subjects, mostly Orcs , Dragons and enslaved Men. In later ages, after Morgoth's defeat and expulsion from Arda, his place
7616-398: The last Númenorean kingdom, Gondor, which "keeps alive the illusion that Númenor still exists in the South". Marjorie Burns writes that the feeling of "inevitable disintegration" is borrowed from the Nordic world view, which emphasises that all may be lost at any moment. She writes that in Norse mythology , this began during the creation: in the realm of fire, Muspell , the jötunn Surt
7728-418: The latitude of ancient Troy . In another letter he stated: ...Thank you very much for your letter. ... It came while I was away, in Gondor ( sc. Venice ), as a change from the North Kingdom, or I would have answered before. He did confirm, however, that the Shire , the land of his Hobbit heroes, was based on England , in particular the West Midlands of his childhood. In the Prologue to The Lord of
7840-544: The memory of the Earth. Both the Appendices and The Silmarillion mention constellations, stars and planets that correspond to those seen in the northern hemisphere of Earth, including the Sun, the Moon, Orion (and his belt), Ursa Major and Mars . A map annotated by Tolkien places Hobbiton on the same latitude as Oxford , and Minas Tirith at the latitude of Ravenna , Italy. He used Belgrade , Cyprus , and Jerusalem as further reference points. The history of Middle-earth, as described in The Silmarillion , began when
7952-445: The middle-earth sent unto men. This is from the Crist 1 poem by Cynewulf . The name Éarendel was the inspiration for Tolkien's mariner Eärendil , who set sail from the lands of Middle-earth to ask for aid from the angelic powers, the Valar . Tolkien's earliest poem about Eärendil, from 1914, the same year he read the Crist poem, refers to "the mid-world's rim". Tolkien considered middangeard to be "the abiding place of men",
8064-662: The might of Númenor". Sauron gathered strength in Mordor, setting the scene for a struggle lasting thousands of years. Other Númenóreans survived in Moddle-Earth. These were called Black Númenóreans since they worshipped the Darkness and were "enamoured of evil knowledge". Originally intended to be a part of a time-travel story in The Notion Club Papers , Tolkien once saw the tale of the fall of Númenor as
8176-536: The modern world, where names like Edwin still survive, all (in the fiction) that is left of Middle-earth, carrying for the knowledgeable philologist a hint of a rich living English mythology. Shippey notes that in Númenor, the myth would have been still stronger, as being an Elf-friend, one of the hated Elendili , marked a person out to the King's Men faction as a target for human sacrifice to Morgoth. Tolkien's "continuous playing with names" led to characters and situations, and sometimes to stories. Delattre states that
8288-518: The name for its resonance with " Lyonesse ", a faraway land that sank into the sea in the Middle English romance King Horn . Atlantis ( Ancient Greek : Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος , lit. 'island of Atlas ') is a fictional island mentioned within an allegory on the hubris (excessive pride leading to a downfall) of nations in the ancient Greek philosopher Plato 's works Timaeus and Critias . According to Tolkien in
8400-428: The names of its months reflect those of the French Republican calendar , translated into his Elvish languages . A novel by Tolkien's friend C. S. Lewis makes reference to a land called Numinor as "the true West". The television series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is set mainly in the Second Age, with Númenor's port city of Armenelos serving as a central location in the storyline. A Description of
8512-517: The north-west of the continent. This region is suggestive of Europe, the north-west of the Old World , with the environs of the Shire reminiscent of England , but, more specifically, the West Midlands , with the town at its centre, Hobbiton , at the same latitude as Oxford . Tolkien's Middle-earth is peopled not only by Men , but by Elves , Dwarves , Ents , and Hobbits , and by monsters including Dragons, Trolls , and Orcs . Through
8624-472: The office at Leeds University which both men used (at different times), is near Woodhouse Moor , which, as "would not have escaped Tolkien", is a modern misspelling of Wood-Wose, Old English wudu-wāsa . Clark Hall renders this word as " faun , satyr ". The Drúedain somewhat resemble Dwarves in stature and endurance; they are stumpy, clumsy-limbed with short, thick legs, and fat, "gnarled" arms, broad chests, fat bellies, and heavy buttocks. According to
8736-516: The origin of the name of Atlantis as being derived from its first high king, Atlas, although its name was in fact a reference to the Titan Atlas who held the sky on his shoulders outside of the Pillars of Herakles, as well as Plato's rearticulation of the origin of the name of the city of Gadira as being derived from Atlas's twin brother Gadiros despite the fictional king's name being in reality
8848-519: The past." As such, it has not only an immediate story but a history, and the whole thing is an "imagined prehistory" of the Earth as it is now. The Ainur were angelic beings created by the one god of Eä, Eru Ilúvatar . The cosmological myth called the Ainulindalë , or "Music of the Ainur", describes how the Ainur sang for Ilúvatar, who then created Eä to give material form to their music. Many of
8960-539: The people climbed to the summit of Meneltarma and the King praised Eru Ilúvatar. These were the spring prayer for a good year, Erukyermë ; the midsummer prayer for a good harvest, Erulaitalë ; and the autumn harvest thanksgiving, Eruhantalë . The Númenórean calendar, the "King's Reckoning", is similar to the Gregorian , with a week of seven days, a year of 365 days except in leap years , and twelve months ( astar ): ten with 30 days and two with 31. Númenor
9072-490: The physical reality of creation as a whole. In careful geographical terms, Middle-earth is a continent on Arda, excluding regions such as Aman and the isle of Númenor. The alternative wider use is reflected in book titles such as The Complete Guide to Middle-earth , The Road to Middle-earth , The Atlas of Middle-earth , and Christopher Tolkien 's 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth . Tolkien's biographer Humphrey Carpenter states that Tolkien's Middle-earth
9184-428: The physical world in which Man lives out his life and destiny, as opposed to the unseen worlds above and below it, namely Heaven and Hell . He states that it is "my own mother-earth for place ", but in an imaginary past time, not some other planet. He began to use the term "Middle-earth" in the late 1930s, in place of the earlier terms "Great Lands", "Outer Lands", and "Hither Lands". The first published appearance of
9296-617: The position of Númenor in Tolkien's Middle-earth is curious, being "at once marginal and central", not least because in The Lord of the Rings , the glory of Númenor is already ancient history, evoking a sense of loss and nostalgia. This, he writes, is just one of many losses and downfalls in Tolkien's legendarium , leading finally to the last remnants of Númenor in the North, the Dúnedain, and
9408-498: The power to control or influence those wearing the other Rings of Power. In ancient Germanic mythology , the world of Men is known by several names. The Old English middangeard descends from an earlier Germanic word and so has cognates such as the Old Norse Miðgarðr from Norse mythology , transliterated to modern English as Midgard . The original meaning of the second element, from proto-Germanic gardaz ,
9520-586: The rest of the physical world), which itself was part of the wider creation he called Eä. Aman and Middle-earth are separated from each other by the Great Sea Belegaer , though they make contact in the far north at the Grinding Ice or Helcaraxë. The western continent, Aman, was the home of the Valar , and the Elves called the Eldar . On the eastern side of Middle-earth was the Eastern Sea. Most of
9632-500: The road / And flung his cobweb cloak on me..." C. S. Lewis 's 1938–1945 Space Trilogy calls the home planet "Middle-earth" and specifically references Tolkien's unpublished legendarium; both men were members of the Inklings literary discussion group. Within the overall context of his legendarium , Tolkien's Middle-earth was part of his created world of Arda (which includes the Undying Lands of Aman and Eressëa , removed from
9744-593: The same Common Eldarin ancestral tongue, but over thousands of years it diverged into different languages. The two main Elven languages were Quenya , spoken by the Light Elves, and Sindarin , spoken by the Dark Elves. Physically the Elves resemble humans; indeed, they can marry and have children with them, as shown by the few Half-elven in the legendarium. The Elves are agile and quick footed, being able to walk
9856-525: The seas'." There are allusions to a similarly- or identically-named world in the work of other writers both before and after him. William Morris 's 1870 translation of the Volsung Saga calls the world "Midgard". Margaret Widdemer 's 1918 poem "The Gray Magician" contains the lines: "I was living very merrily on Middle Earth / As merry as a maid may be / Till the Gray Magician came down along
9968-571: The shores of Aman . As the Valar were forbidden to take direct action against Men, Manwë , chief of the Valar, called upon Eru Ilúvatar , the One God. In response, Eru caused the Changing of the World: the hitherto flat world of Arda was transformed into a globe, Númenor sank beneath the ocean, and the Undying Lands were removed from the Earth forever. Only the Elves could continue to sail
10080-522: The story takes place in the North-west of 'Middle-earth', equivalent in latitude to the coastlands of Europe and the north shores of the Mediterranean. ... If Hobbiton and Rivendell are taken (as intended) to be at about the latitude of Oxford , then Minas Tirith , 600 miles south, is at about the latitude of Florence . The Mouths of Anduin and the ancient city of Pelargir are at about
10192-493: The subject of a variety of film adaptations. There were many early failed attempts to bring the fictional universe to life on screen, some even rejected by the author himself, who was skeptical of the prospects of an adaptation. While animated and live-action shorts were made of Tolkien's books in 1967 and 1971, the first commercial depiction of The Hobbit onscreen was the Rankin/Bass animated TV special in 1977 . In 1978
10304-405: The theme of decline and fall in Middle-earth that runs throughout Tolkien's legendarium , ancient Númenor representing a now-mythical age of greatness. Scholars, and Tolkien himself, have noted likenesses between Númenor and ancient civilisations including ancient Egypt , Mesopotamia , Phoenicia , and Carthage . Its language, Adûnaic , was modelled on Semitic languages . Tolkien chose to make
10416-440: The time of The Hobbit , most of them lived in the Shire , a region of the northwest of Middle-earth, having migrated there from further east. The Ents were treelike shepherds of trees, their name coming from an Old English word for giant. Orcs and Trolls (made of stone) were evil creatures bred by Morgoth . They were not original creations but rather "mockeries" of the Children of Ilúvatar and Ents, since only Ilúvatar has
10528-540: The time of its destruction, echo events in children's books by Edith Nesbit , who Tolkien described as "an author I delight in". Nesbit's 1906 The Story of the Amulet has Atlantis destroyed by a combination of volcanic eruption and a tsunami . Kullmann and Siepmann comment that the tsunami must have resonated with Tolkien's recurring "Atlantis complex" dream , ascribed also to the Tolkien-figure of Faramir , of
10640-586: The western regions, especially Andustar, came mostly from the people of Bëor, with darker hair and grey eyes. A few remnants of the Folk of Haleth and a few families of the Drúedain were also present. The average Númenórean was taller than two rangar , or 6'4". Númenóreans not of the Line of Elros lived for 200 years, with royal kindred living much longer; their lifespan diminished due to their rebellion. Coming-of-age
10752-428: The word "Middle-earth" in Tolkien's works is in the prologue to The Lord of the Rings : "Hobbits had, in fact, lived quietly in Middle-earth for many long years before other folk even became aware of them". The term Middle-earth has come to be applied as a short-hand for the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium, instead of the technically more appropriate, but lesser known terms "Arda" for the physical world and " Eä " for
10864-561: The word survives in English placenames such as Puckshot in Surrey, Pock Field in Cumberland, Puxton , Puckeridge , Pokesdown , Pockford, Pucknall, and perhaps Pucklechurch . Ryan suggests that the Púkel-men may derive from a combination of "Proto-Celts, Druid -figures, or ... roadside fertility deities". Ryan notes Christopher Tolkien 's statement that the name Púkel-men is "also used as a general equivalent to Drúedain". In Westron ,
10976-578: Was "enclosure", cognate with English "yard"; middangeard was assimilated by folk etymology to "middle earth". Middle-earth was at the centre of nine worlds in Norse mythology, and of three worlds (with heaven above, hell below) in some later Christian versions . Tolkien's first encounter with the term middangeard , as he stated in a letter, was in an Old English fragment he studied in 1913–1914: Éala éarendel engla beorhtast / ofer middangeard monnum sended. Hail Earendel, brightest of angels / above
11088-663: Was Glaurung the Golden, bred by Morgoth in Angband , and called "The Great Worm", "The Worm of Morgoth", and "The Father of Dragons". Middle-earth contains sapient animals including the Eagles , Huan the Great Hound from Valinor and the wolf-like Wargs . In general the origins and nature of these animals are unclear. Giant spiders such as Shelob descended from Ungoliant , of unknown origin. Other sapient species include
11200-611: Was a western port, facing the Undying Lands; the Eldar used to land there. Valandil was the first Lord of Andúnië. Other ports included Rómenna and Eldalondë. As the Shadow fell over Númenor, Armenelos overtook Andúnië. The Númenóreans were descended from the Edain of Beleriand , with three clans: the people of Hador, the people of Bëor, and the Folk of Haleth. Most descended from the fair-haired and blue-eyed people of Hador. The settlers of
11312-534: Was at 25 years. Their common language, Adûnaic , was derived from Taliska , the speech of the Hadorians. Most Númenóreans knew Sindarin; noble families also knew the High-elven Quenya , employing it in works of lore and nomenclature. When the friendship with the Elves was broken, usage of Sindarin and Quenya lessened, until King Ar-Adûnakhôr forbade their teaching, and knowledge of the elven tongues
11424-517: Was created specifically as "the Habitation" ( Imbar or Ambar ) for the Children of Ilúvatar ( Elves and Men ). It is envisaged in a flat Earth cosmology, with the stars, and later also the sun and moon, revolving around it. Tolkien's sketches show a disc-like face for the world which looked up to the stars. However, Tolkien's legendarium addresses the spherical Earth paradigm by depicting
11536-532: Was cut down and burned as a sacrifice to Melkor, at Sauron's direction. Isildur rescued a fruit of the tree; it became an ancestor of the White Tree of Gondor . Prompted by Sauron and fearing old age and death, Ar-Pharazôn built a great armada and sailed into the West to make war upon the Valar, intending to seize the Undying Lands of Valinor and achieve immortality. Sauron remained behind. Ar-Pharazôn landed on
11648-448: Was even then awaiting the end of the world. Burns comments that in that mythology, even the gods can die, everything has an end, and that, "though [the evil] Sauron may go, the elves will fade as well." Tolkien described the later Númenóreans of Gondor as "best pictured in (say) Egyptian terms", resembling ancient Egyptians in their love of and power to build large monuments, and in their interest in ancestry and tombs. The crown of Gondor
11760-672: Was known as Middle-earth MUD , run by using LPMUD . After the Middle-earth MUD ended in 1992, it was followed by Elendor and MUME . Dr%C3%BAedain The Drúedain are a fictional race of Men , living in the Drúadan Forest , in the Middle-earth legendarium created by J. R. R. Tolkien . They were counted among the Edain who made their way into Beleriand in the First Age , and were friendly to
11872-532: Was only preserved by the Faithful. Before the coming of the Shadow, the Númenóreans maintained traditions of worship of Ilúvatar and respect to the Valar. Among these were the setting a bough of the fragrant oiolairë upon the prow of a departing ship, the ceremonies concerned with the passing of the Sceptre, and laying down one's life. The most famous traditions were the Three Prayers, during which
11984-421: Was planted in the days of the sixth King, the explorer Tar-Aldarion. During the reign of the last King, the proud Ar-Pharazôn, a giant circular temple to Morgoth was built in the city, over five hundred feet in diameter and as much in height to its cornice line, with a silver dome above that. The dome had an oculus , from which the smoke of numerous burned sacrifices rose, tarnishing the silver. Andúnië, "Sunset",
12096-517: Was raised from the sea as a gift from the Valar to the Edain who had stood with the Elves of Beleriand against Morgoth in the wars of the First Age . Early in the Second Age , most Edain who had survived the wars left Middle-earth for Númenor, sailing in ships provided and steered by the Elves. The migration took 50 years and brought 5,000 to 10,000 people to the island. Elros Half-elven , son of Eärendil , gave up his immortality to become
12208-482: Was tall and winged, like an ancient Egyptian atef crown . Adûnaic was modelled on Semitic languages : Tolkien described it as having Semitic-like triconsonantal roots and an affinity with the Dwarvish language Khuzdul ", itself modelled after Semitic languages. Some Mesopotamian influences were present in early versions of Númenor, such as Sauron's name Zigûr and Tar-Miriel's name, Istar . Tolkien compared
12320-612: Was the "woodcrafty beyond compare" Drúedain who held off the Orcs with poisoned arrows whilst they guided the Rohirrim through the forest by secret paths. Without their help the Rohirrim would not have arrived at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields , and Sauron would likely have triumphed. This action earned the Drúedain the respect of other Men, and King Elessar granted them the Drúadan Forest "forever" in thanks. Ghân-buri-Ghân
12432-477: Was weakened both by time and by intermingling with lesser peoples. The Dwarves are a race of humanoids who are shorter than Men but larger than Hobbits. The Dwarves were created by the Vala Aulë, before the Firstborn awoke due to his impatience for the arrival of the children of Ilúvatar to teach and to cherish. When confronted and shamed for his presumption by Ilúvatar, Eru took pity on Aulë and gave his creation
12544-478: Was writing: As for the shape of the world of the Third Age , I am afraid that was devised 'dramatically' rather than geologically , or paleontologically . I am historically minded. Middle-earth is not an imaginary world. ... The theatre of my tale is this earth, the one in which we now live, but the historical period is imaginary. The essentials of that abiding place are all there (at any rate for inhabitants of N.W. Europe), so naturally it feels familiar, even if
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